The city’s murder and homicide rate for this year are on pace to surpass last year’s rate, according to statistics released by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD).
At the end of July 2017, according to the data, the number of murders and homicides in Indianapolis totaled 90. This year that number is 91 for the same time period, and while three of those may be reclassified, the numbers are still startling.
May was the deadliest month so far this year with 19 murders. By comparison, such high numbers didn’t happen in 2017 until September and November — when 20 murders or homicides were recorded in each month.
If conditions don’t improve, it’s likely Indianapolis will exceed last year’s rate of 156 criminal homicides.
Mayor Joe Hogsett announced a plan to reduce violent crime in June, naming Shonna Majors as the director of community violence reduction. Majors hit the ground running, reaching out to faith-based organizations, school administrations, and Eskenazi Health to get a grasp on what needs to be done to reduce the violence.
“The first month has been really busy for me talking with different organizations on what we have going on with our team and what we are trying to accomplish,” Majors said.
In July, the mayor announced the first two Indy Peacemakers, Robert Fry and James Wilson, who work directly under Majors and are a part of the mayor’s latest efforts to make Indianapolis safer by targeting high-crime areas — with the help of community members.
“Our goal is to get the people who live in these dangerous areas involved, but getting them mobilized and getting neighbors to know each other,” Majors said. “When you know who lives in your neighborhood it’s easier to identify who belongs there and who may pose a threat to your safety.”
Majors is organizing one simple but effective way to create change: neighborhood cleanups in high-crime areas.
“We are going to organize some community cleanups that will get people out and fixing where they live because when people take pride where they live, its harder for outsiders to come in and mess it up,” Majors said.
In addition, Majors and her team will involve youth in events to stop violence before it even starts.
“This fall we’re going to get go on school tours especially IPS schools to explain the consequences of how a split-second decision of how a fit of anger can change so many lives,” Majors said. “We feel that if you start on the youth level it will slow the process of violence in the future for the city.”
Hogsett announced on Aug. 1 the recipients of $300,000 in grants intended to combat crime and youth violence at the neighborhood level. That new funding, along with the hiring of a community violence reduction coordinator, two peacemakers and the creation of a $300,000 witness protection fund are in addition to more than $2 million in crime prevention grants that will be announced in September.
Community activist Rev. Charles Harrison, founder of the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition, wants to see more programs focused on keeping youth involved in productive activities and off the streets. However, a rift between the coalition and mayor’s office developed.
“The city doesn’t seem like it wants to work with us and get us at the table,” Harrison said. “We’ve been doing this kind of work for 20 years now, so we have been through Mayor Peterson, Mayor Goldsmith, Mayor Ballard, and we have always been at the table and for the first time, we are not at the table, and I think we can be helpful. We’re helping other cities across the country and we can help our city also.”
While everyone wants crime eradicated, Majors knows that no solution will ever entirely clean up the violence totally.
“We want the city to be as safe as possible, but we know it’s never going to be possible to totally eliminate the violence totally,” Majors said. “Violence has been around since the start of time but we’re doing our best to stop it.”
Contact staff writer Dontre Graves at 317-762-7848.
Violence
